I recently install a Valve Art 274B (6 hours on it) in my Zen Select and like it much better than the stock 5U4G (made in China). The 274B moved the singers to the front of the stage for me and gave a broader sound stage along with better dynamics and clairty.

So I have a question about other 274B tubes that could work in my Zen. The three in question would be the Psvana 274B,their WE 1:1 Replica and the Sophia 274B mesh plate.

Any help would be great. I have also already ordered from Upscale Audio a Phillips 5R4GYS that is made in Holland.

On a side note the Zen is making the JM Lab Micron Karats really sing. They are still not the answer but are certainly no slouch with the Zen!

That's funny because if you compare a Valve Art 274B and Chinese 5U4G side by side the innards are identical. However, if it works for you that is fine.

I would caution you on the Pissvane tubes. They are more hype than anything else. I doubt they would sound better than what you have. It is basically a Shuguang made rectifier with ostentatious packaging and ludicrous claims made about it.

As to Western Electric replicas and mesh plates get ready to drop major dollars on what may prove to be overkill.

Actually the Valve Art 274B has an extra getter and the glass is way different...Why this makes it sound better, I don't know, but it does in my Torii...I don't generally like the Ruby, but I really like the Valve Art..big, spacious, open and slightly warm/rich...quite real sounding in general. The family resemblance is definitely there, but it does all the Ruby tries to do really well to me. There is a thread in the Torii MkIII area about it if you would like to check it out....Steve says that generally our amps will burn up a lot of 274Bs pretty fast because the power supply caps have too high a value for the tube ratings, though folks use them anyway. He thinks the Valve Art is basically a 5U4G.

Whatever the difference and similarities, mine sound a lot better to me than the Rubies, in fact with my many, many NOS rectifiers sitting quietly, I have been listing to the Valve Arts lately.

I really dislike the stock Ruby, but the Valve Art or Shugang 274B (I use the Preferred Series from the Tube Store) sound better and better. It has an addictive quality that prevents me from taking them out on my Torri.

Quote from TubeStore: "A new evacuator is utilized for a much longer time period increasing vacuum over 100 times more than their current 5U4G tube. A new cathode coating process provides a much smoother finish improving electron flow and they are burned in at high voltages for a much longer time for improved stability."

Like RR, though perhaps a tad less curmudgeonly, I would caution against jumping in on exotic expensive tubes too quickly, especially at the rectifier. I have spent a fair bit of coin on a lot of NOS, as well as some high priced, and not-so-expensive current models. In the rectifier tubes, I have been consistently pleased with a number of NOS RCA tubes; just bought a couple from 1943 from a fellow Decwarian. At the recommendation of many here, I am trying the Shuguang Preferred 274B. Thought about the Valve Art, but it did not seem different enough to merit that one as well. I also looked at the Sophia [really pretty tube], and the Psvane WE274B 1:1 replica. The Sophia has generated some very positive reviews, and it's not difficult to find hype around some of the expensive Shuguang and Psvane. I just bought a T-II set of the Psvane 6CA7, and will probably start listening to them in my front Torii this weekend. I was pleased enough with the Black Treasures to try the new Psvanes, but at the end of the day, I will—if reports here are any guide—return to the cryo JJs, which are patiently waiting in the cabinet. Unless the new Psvanes are so resoundingly better than the JJs—I have the luxury of having two different Torii amps, and an Ultra preamp in a multi-ERR setup that lets me actually listen to and compare different tubes in very similar setups. Not exactly true A/B/X, but much more effective comparison than swapping tubes. If I don't hear a big diff, this will be a pretty easy decision. But if the difference is noticeable, well then, the improvement in the music may make the investment worthwhile.

For me, that's the issue. The real problem with the exotic tubes, and the NOS hunt, is that eventually, tubes expire or fail. The ROI on a set of Treasures or Psvanes, can be emotionally high, but if you listen a lot, you can burn through the tubes very quickly. And replacing them with like can get very expensive.

Moreover, it can be difficult to audition the tubes in any other way except for buying them, burning them in, and listening on your own equipment. At the end of the day, you might well convince yourself that you are hearing what the seller and reviewers told you were supposed to hear. And if you don't, well then what?

All this talk of the Valve Art 274B has made me try again the two that I have . . . . I finally realized that speaker positioning was keeping me from hearing the tonality that OC, will et al are hearing in this tube. I had to move my speakers further back than ever before to do so, but I agree that the resulting sound is quite something.

My problem is that the sound is still a bit too forward for me, I just prefer a laid back sound and the depth that I get from my RCA rectifiers that isn't here to the same extent. I'm going to keep trying to adapt to that, it certainly is welcome on some material, but really not so on others. Overall this rectifier is a good match for the JJ 6CA7 tubes. . .except for that darned sound placing me more rows forward than I am comfortable with.

That tube sounds quite nice, but perhaps caution is relevant. From my reply #2 above: "Steve says that generally our amps will burn up a lot of 274Bs pretty fast because the power supply caps have too high a value for the tube ratings, though folks use them anyway. He thinks the Valve Art is basically a 5U4G."